Talk:Pete de Freitas
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Pete de Freitas was THE drummer for Echo and the Bunnymen, a seminal "new wave" band that, despite the cheesiness associated with the genre, managed to embark on a career that has now lasted the greater part of 25 years (save a hiatus that lasted for ten years after Pete's death), and absolutely transcended all other bands of the genre in musical substance.
Pete's style was absolutely unique. I am not a drummer, so I don't have the vocabularly to properly describe the technical aspect of his playing, but as a music aficionado approximately the same age as the members of his band, I can say that his style, while not extremely difficult to replicate technically, could never be replicated, much less duplicated, in spirit, inventiveness, and being a perfect match for the timbre of his band's songs - whether they be rollicking or ghost-like trances, or anything in between. If you have ever listened to the rock and roll pureness of "Crocodiles", his band's first album, then played "Heaven Up Here," their following album - with its incredible musically lyrical depth and range, you can FEEL the range Pete had, that he so effectively employed to adapt his playing to the ever-changing and expanding range of his band.
Pete truly gave his band a rhythmic spirit, along with bassist Les Pattinson. While frontman Ian McCulloch's and guitarist WIll Seargent's beautiful and inventive musical sonicsphere have always lent the band its signature sound, without Les, and especially Pete's presence, it would never have been anchored firmly in order for them to retain that sound. To wit, on the band's post-Pete "Live in Liverpool" album, which contains live versions of much of their early repertoire which Pete initially played on, their drummer for the set has Pete's beats down perfectly, yet they sound soulless, a mechanical exercise. Simply put, Pete gave the band both soul and spirit, and I hope someone in the band would take notice and quit trying to replicate him.
Long live Pete de Freitas, now that he is over the wall.
